Samsung Announces Very Positive Earnings Guidance For Q1 2017

Samsung has just released details on its forecast for Q1, 2017 (January through March) and according to the numbers, it will likely be the company’s best quarterly profit in a long time. While the full results of the first quarter of 2017 are not expected to come through until the end of April, the preliminary numbers being suggested by Samsung is that operating profit will be in the region of 9.9 trillion Korean won, which roughly equates to $8.75 billion US.

This is notable for two reasons. Firstly, it is significantly higher than 6.68 trillion won ($5.9 billion) that the company announced for Q1 2016 and secondly, it is higher than the average of what industry analysts have been expecting recently. So if accurate, not only will Samsung report significantly higher operating profits than the same time last year, but the company will also beat expectations, which in turn will likely have a knock on effect for the company’s stock. In terms of revenue, it is reported Samung will announce revenue in the region of 50 trillion won ($44.2 billion). Which although to a lesser degree, again will beat industry average expectations, as well as the 49.8 trillion won ($44 billion) Samsung reported for the same period a year before.

Of course, what will make these numbers all the more apparent is the strength Samsung is showing in the market in the absence of any recent and major flagship releases. This period directly follows the quarter which saw the Galaxy Note 7 released and recalled, and comes before the quarter that the Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to be released. So while smartphones will not have played a significant role in the company’s first quarter results, it will be an extremely good quarter for Samsung, with demand for its memory chips seemingly bolstering the company. In fact, more than bolstering, as it is expected that when the full figures come through, the company's memory chip division will announce its strongest results to date. In either case, it is likely that once these results are officially announced, positive predictions for Samsung will start to be made well beyond Q1, 2017, and likely for the year ahead. Although, based on these early numbers, it is likely those positive predictions will start to come through well before the official results are made public.

John has been writing about and reviewing tech products since 2014 after making the transition from writing about and reviewing airlines. With a background in Psychology, John has a particular interest in the science and future of the industry. Besides adopting the Managing Editor role at AH John also covers much of the news surrounding audio and visual tech, including cord-cutting, the state of Pay-TV, and Android TV. Contact him at [email protected]